Parish History  

A Brief History of Trinity Parish Church

Trinity Parish is the oldest Episcopal Church in the central Puget Sound region. A church building was completed in 1871 at the northwest corner of present-day Third and Jefferson. The great Seattle fire of 1889 destroyed it and a vastly improved replacement was completed in 1892, at Eighth and James. In 1902 fire struck again. The rebuilt church included the marble high altar and stained glass windows that are among the beautiful features of today’s church. The All Souls Memorial Organ was installed after the 1902 fire and is in use today.

From the earliest days, the parish developed many active clerical and lay ministries throughout the region. This commitment to outreach led to the development of new missions and parishes and growth of the diocese. Trinity has a long history of discipleship, supporting missions to serve prostitutes and their children (1901) and ministries to unwed mothers (1910 and 1929). A parish house was built in 1930 to host annual parish conventions and as a temporary home to the Diocesan Theology School (1972) and a Chinese-American mission in (1981). Trinity similarly hosted the Seattle Seaman’s Church Institute (1910) and the Church Supply Company (1911). The church supported a chapel for business people, at Fifth and Union (1983), and it did entertainment at a serviceman’s center in the parish house (1945). A former flop house across Cherry Street was acquired and converted into a detoxification facility (1967).

To reach remote eyes and ears, the Washington Churchman (for eight years) and the Seattle Churchman (for 35 years) communicated religious news and opinion throughout the state. Radio microphones were installed in the chancel of the church to broadcast religious services and choir performances during the Great Depression, and people as far away as Chicago and Los Angeles tuned in.

Trinity Church was placed on the Washington State and the United States National Register of Historical Places in 1991. In more recent history the church building was badly damaged by the Nisqually Earthquake that fell on Ash Wednesday of 2001. The struggle to rebuild was long but ultimately successful. In 2006 three bishops re-consecrated Trinity Church.

Thank you to Richard Gould, Archivist of Trinity Parish Church, for contributing to the content of this page.